Though Obito who was going by either Madara, Tobi or no-one these days never really kept track of him, Hatake Kakashi had made such a splash in the ninja world that Obito couldn't help but hear about what he was up to, even when he didn't want to. The fact that Hatake Kakashi had finally taken on a Genin team had been so shocking that the news of the team's existence had made its way to the furthest corners of the continent with an alarming alacrity. There was much speculation on the sort of team that someone as impressive as Hatake Kakashi would take on, and Obito found himself curious despite himself as he heard theory after theory. That the "last of the Uchiha aside from that Itachi character" was on the team was pretty much a given, but the other two students are ciphers as far as everyone who spreads news of the team are concerned.

Eventually, after his curiosity had gotten the best of him and he'd heard a rumor that Kakashi's new Genin team had left the safety of Konoha, Obito decided to go take a look. Seeing the team up close was almost sickening. There was the broody orphan who stood aloof, and the hyperactive loudmouth who pursued the girl who pursued the broody orphan. It figured that Kakashi would pick a dark mirror of their team that placed him in the Minato role. From the looks of it, Kakashi had taken the team to punish himself since sitting in front of the Memorial Stone for days on end wasn't doing it for him anymore.

As Obito was about to turn away disgusted, he saw Kakashi pick up the boy whose life had almost come to an end moments after it had started and ruffle his hair. Buried in the somewhat pained smile Kakashi had on his face as he played with the hyperactive loudmouth as Minato would've done him was fondness. Kakashi actually cared about this team. He actually cared and wanted them around for more than yet another bout of self-flagellation.

Wasn't that just sweet.

As Obito watched the team make its way back to Konoha from the direction of Wave country, he found that he wasn't above pettiness. Because those three brats belonged to Kakashi and Kakashi cared about them and actually wanted them, Obito felt a mean spirited desire to take them.

That being said, when Obito made up his mind to do something, about the only thing that would stop him would be the literal end of the world. There was the small problem of the promise he'd made to Itachi regarding Sasuke, but if he recalled the promise correctly, what he'd actually agreed to was to not physically harm Sasuke and to not talk to Sasuke for as long as Itachi was alive. There was no mandate to stay out of the boy's presence if one reviewed the exact wording of his promise to Itachi. Sure, it was Rules Lawyering to the most obnoxious extreme which would have even your own teammates lobbing friendly fire at you if you weren't strong enough to pound anyone who could object in the dirt, but...

Kakashi was goofing around with Naruto who reminded him so much of Obito and Minato that it wasn't funny. Sure, looking at him was painful at times, most of the time actually, which was why he'd avoided the boy for the vast majority of the last twelve years, but it had gotten to the point where he couldn't imagine not having Naruto around in the few short months that he'd had his Genin team.

Sakura called Naruto an idiot the way Rin would've done Obito as Naruto tried to grab her on his way past and silent as ever Sasuke pretended not to be amused by what he was watching out of the corner of his eye as Kakashi swung a yelling Naruto around in wide and wild arcs. Eventually though, Kakashi checked the level of the sun, realized that he would have to get the show on the road if he wanted the team in Konoha by sundown, and stopped swinging the boy about in favor of picking up the pace.

As Kakashi was carrying Naruto who was halfheartedly trying to free himself down the road back to Konoha by his ankle a figure in black who had a green scarf wrapped around his neck and an orange spiral mask with a single eyehole appeared on the path in front of him and his team.

Quickly dropping Naruto, Kakashi signalled for his team to get into formation and moved in front of them in a protective stance. Everything about the man in front of the team had screamed Shinobi. And, this was a shinobi he didn't recognize.

"Oh, don't worry." the stranger said in a deep voice that seemed to carry a promise of pain for anyone who opposed him, "Your little students will be safe with me. The same cannot be said for you however."

It was at that point that the stranger attacked, and Kakashi discovered an interesting fact. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't land a blow on the stranger because each and every hit and kick and jutsu went straight through him.

Slowly and inexorably, the fight with the selectively tangible stranger who could hit him but could not be hit in return got further and further away from Kakashi's students who eventually disappeared from sight.

"Heh, heh, heh, that was too easy" Obito said as he gathered up Kakashi's students who'd been too inexperienced to put up much of a fight and dragged them into his Kamui dimension. Sure, Sasuke was unconscious, but that had been the result of a genjutsu, so he hadn't physically harmed the boy.

As soon as Kakashi's brats were situated, Obito dispelled his Kage Bunshin and hopped into his Kamui dimension to join them.

Kakashi stared at the spot where he'd left his students in disbelief. The instant Kakashi's opponent had revealed himself to be a Shadow Clone, he'd run back to where he'd left his kids unguarded. There were signs of a short struggle, but no signs of his students themselves.

The fact that there was a complete lack of copious amounts of blood, or worse, bodies gave him some small measure of hope. If they'd been captured alive, there was always the possibility of tracking them down and bringing them back.

With a course of action decided, Kakashi summoned his ninken and set them to tracking down his students and their kidnapper. The trail swiftly disappeared in the same clearing where it had first appeared, and not because his students' kidnapper had pulled a rookie move like dropping a scent bomb whose smell they would end up trailing behind them as they fled. The scent just abruptly disappeared at a point near where Kakashi had left his students, as if his students and their kidnapper whom Pakkun swore smelled very familiar had vanished from the world entirely.

He should've known something like this would happen. Every time he had something good in his life, it got taken away from him after he'd had it just long enough to appreciate it. He should've known that his Genin team would've been the same.

Wanting to break down crying right there and knowing he couldn't for many reasons, Kakashi did the only thing he could do as a shinobi of the leaf at that moment, which was to report the disappearance of his team back to Konoha.

Two days after the kidnapping of the underage portion of Team 7, Obito found that he had absolutely no idea what to do with the brats. Truth was, he hadn't thought any further than taking the kids from Kakashi out of spite because they were Kakashi's. Now that he had the kids whom he'd impulsively decided to take...

What do you do with a Genin team? Obito thought to himself once again as he checked to make sure that the gag that kept the loudmouthed Kyuubi Jinchuriki silent wasn't about to work its way loose again. That yelling was bringing up memories best left forgotten.

As he was reaching the point where he was half tempted to just turn the brats loose and return them because he absolutely could not think of a single thing to do with them other than either A) using the as of now inexperienced Akatsuki who've only been briefed on the process to extract the Kyuubi early, possibly causing problems since there was no telling how the Gedo Mazo would react to having the most powerful of the Biju being put into it first without prior testing of the process using a weaker Biju, and kill the rest, or B) keeping the brats tied up and using them as furniture, Obito felt a familiar presence behind them.

"That was fast." Obito said, using his Madara voice. "I wasn't expecting you for at least another day."

Itachi simply stood there silently, trying to glare a hole in his back with his Mangekyo Sharingan. Fortunately for Obito, Itachi's Sharingan didn't have that ability. It did however have the ability to shoot unquenchable black flames that you had to seal away in a scroll before they burned everything under them to the bedrock, and Obito knew he had to start talking quick before he ended up being forced to dodge those.

"As you can see, your brother is unharmed and I haven't said a single word to him, as footstool number two can attest." Obito said.

Footstool #2 however was too busy glaring at Itachi with his newly awakened sharingan and screaming obscenities as he tried to get free of his bonds so he could attack his older brother.

"Our arrangement..." Itachi started.

"Was that I would neither physically harm your brother nor speak to him." Obito replied in his Madara voice which, if not intimidated Itachi, at least caused him to have some modicum of respect for him. "Which reminds me...You! Pink haired thing! Tell Fugaku's spawn to shut up or I'll put him back under the genjutsu again."

Itachi made a threatening move.

"Do I need to remind you of the other part of our little arrangement? Sasuke is safe and sound right here, and will continue to be, unless..." Obito said, heading off a fight that he would win, costing himself in the long run when the other Akatsuki saw him struggle for said win and figured out that he wasn't THE Uchiha Madara, or that if he was, he was no-longer at the top of his game, and therefore killable.

Itachi backed down and turned to leave. For now. While he was uncertain that he would win the fight and feared he might get Sasuke killed in the process.

"You wouldn't happen to know what to do with a team of Genin would you?" Obito found himself asking as Itachi departed, still uncertain as to what to do with the brats he'd impulsively taken and wanting an outside opinion on the situation.

"Put them back where they came from." Itachi said. "You remember what happened the one time that Hashirama made the mistake of giving you a team."

Obito snickered as he remembered the story of what happened to Madara's Genin team, which Itachi had likely thrown out there as yet another test of his identity. That story had been passed down the Uchiha line for generations. Long story short, it had ended with an S-ranked mission that had left three twelve year-olds who were forced to retire from the shinobi forces because they were too shaken to continue traumatized for life.

"You know, I had almost forgotten about those three..." Obito said as if he were reminiscing. Well, he technically was reminiscing. Reminiscing about the story he'd been told by one of the elderly members of his clan who'd decided to pass down the tale of Madara's lack of understanding regarding what constituted a "skill appropriate mission".

There were utterly insane missing-nin who could do a better job of training the next generation of Shinobi than Madara had been proven able to. Heck, even he could train shinobi better than Madara could and he had absolutely no experience in that area.

And, he had a ready-made Genin team sitting there waiting to soak up the wisdom of their elders right there in front of him, come to think of it. A Genin team that he knew Kakash had valued and had desired to train himself. Which Kakashi couldn't do while he had them. And, wouldn't it be excellent revenge if he managed to train them way better than that jerk Kakashi could?

So...Why not?

Thanks to his time controlling the Mizukage, he knew it was perfectly legal. All you had to do was fill out the correct paperwork, keep their original village from taking them back, and keep the Genin themselves from killing you in your sleep and running off.

Easy peasy.

"You want what?!" Pein asked for the third time. His brain having failed to process the request the first two times he'd received it.

"Three Amegakure hitai-ate, the legalization of my theft of a Genin team, and my being commissioned as their Jounin Instructor." Obito repeated, failing to mention that he was technically a Chunin, and therefore, should he get his request, Pein would've promoted him.

"Fine." Pein said when the request finally computed. That was the only answer he really could give considering who was asking. "I don't even want to know..."